There is a need to create awareness among those who keep cattle about the nuisance caused by them, says V.S. Mahajan

The road is their farmyard

KNOWING well that keeping cattle is a well entrenched practice in this country, the planners of Chandigarh had prohibited keeping of cattle in small houses. However they were permitted in big houses with the provisio that they be kept under hygienic conditions. These animals were also to be kept away from roads and parks.

With the passage of time, however, bylaws have not been strictly enforced and, thus, Chandigarh, which was planned to be cattle-nuisance free city, is gradually becoming like any other city of Punjab or Haryana. No surprise that southern sectors, which are close to Mohali, are more prone to cattle nuisance than other parts.

In northern sectors, which have the maximum number of big houses, ask the morning walkers, how they feel while on their walk. They will tell the story of roads and parks heavily soiled stray cattle.

These animals, who are often left free on the roads of northern sectors, are in fact from the neighbouring bungalows. They appear to be so well disciplined that before it is dawn they are back to their sheds.

Among the culprits are politicians and bureaucrats who reside in these houses and take advantage of their position to flout these bylaws. The Chandigarh Administra-tion, too, is hardly bothered to stop this nuisance. While it is laid down that any one who catches stray cattle and brings it to the notice of the Administration would be rewarded, it is hardly a practical scheme.

First of all, who has time and patience to catch roaming cattle? Further, how is one to bring it to the notice of authorities during this odd time? Furthermore, even if a complaint is lodged, who is going to take the follow-up action?

Such a scheme is, therefore, absurd and would not work in actual practice. There is, first of all, a need to create awareness among those who keep cattle about the nuisance they cause by allowing them to take to roads and parks during night time. In case they fail to mend their ways, they should be appropriately punished and even prohibited from keeping cattle any more. Thus, only strict action by the Administration would help to check this nuisance.

In southern sectors, where under the bylaws very few houses qualify to keep cattle, residents face a major cattle nuisance even during the day. These bovine beauties can be found sitting at road crossings or roaming about leisurely on the roads.

In new sectors which had till recently a high cattle population, it has not been possible to get rid of the cattle nuisance and dairies because of the vested interests of dairy-owners who are hand-in- glove with the Administration.

So unless the bylaws are strictly implemented, the cattle nuisance will continue to grow and the City Beautiful will continue to be infested by these traffic-brokers.